Obama-Hugging Florida Pizza Maker Facing Boycott, Yelp Abuse

By Tim Elfrink Tue., Sep. 11 2012 at 9:30 AM

via @dougmillsnyt 's Twitter

The hug heard round the world.

Scott Van Duzer made headlines around the world on Sunday when he lifted President Obama off the ground in a back-cracking bear hug that amazingly didn't result in a swift Tasering by Secret Service agents.

The hug has resulted in Van Duzer's business becoming the most politically debated pizza shop in the history of Fort Pierce, though. The owner this morning says he's been threatened with boycotts, and his Yelp page has become a battleground between furious conservatives and supportive Dems.

"People are saying a lot of bad things and boycotting my restaurant," the 46-year-old owner tells Politico. "There's no middle line anymore, and that's exactly what's wrong with our country right now."

After the photo of Van Duzer's hug went viral yesterday, conservatives began flooding the Yelp page of his Big Apple Pizza and Italian Restaurant with disparaging reviews like these:

Democrats soon got wind of the Yelp smackdown, though, and someone made a Change.org petition to drown out the negative reviews on his page. Big Apple has been bombarded with five-star reviews this morning from "patrons" from Ohio, Vegas, California and everywhere in between.

Woe unto anyone in Fort Pierce who just wants to find a good place for a slice of pepperoni. This is election-year America, where every hug in a pizza shop is an act of treason or zealous support.

On the upside, Van Duzer now has a side business: Lifting people off the ground so they can recreate the Obama hug for their own photos.

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Tags:

Fort Pierce, Obama, Scott Van Duzer

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Lourdes Diaz

The Left boycotted ChickFilA because they help discriminate against gays not because of who they vote for - totally different and this is totally ridiculous.

Morris Solow

Hillarious! I LOVE AMERICA! Romney/Ryan 2012

PizzaNonpartisan

Does anyone really go to yelp before going out for a slice of pizza??? Maybe you check out yelp reviews for a fancy, expensive place....but for pizza? Come on. As far as no middle ground, that has been the ploy from democrats since Gore lost (even if he won the case in the Supreme Court for more recounts, he would have lost anyway - that is a proven fact) and Obama has been exploiting and dividing Americans against each other.

Fancy Pants McDonahue

Disgusting, the man makes pizza, he saw the president and gave him a hug, that's it. The pettiness of some people makes me physically sick sometimes. He's a small business owner and these people would see him and his livelihood burn to the ground because he did something that shouldn't but did offend them... We are truly a nation divided and with much childish malice.

Chard Beauregarde

@Ed the "libs" certainly wouldn't have acted like a bunch of fucking retards, I'll tell you that much.

Lynne Dear

A company being sued for extortion? Why give them free press?????? Yelp extorts!

Lynne Dear

A company being sued for extortion? Why give them free press?????? Yelp extorts!

cnakeesha

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Andres Almeida

Because threatening to make a man lose his business is the American thing to do.

Lon Allen

Is it any surprise after the left attacked chik fil a? It is all wrong! It is just indicitive of where the political debate or lack thereof has led us. I will not be voting for Obama(or Romney) in Nov, but would love to try this place for lunch one day.

Lee Miller

it really is amazing that he was able to do that...my neighbor offered a bag of mangos to Senator Inouye and practically got mugged by the SS...and Dan's her cousin!

Charles Blackshire

Since when did showing love to the President of the United States of America become... un-American? And really, what's the point of boycotting this gentleman's pizza shop?

Charles Blackshire

Since when did showing love to the President of the United States of America become... un-American? And really, what's the point of boycotting this gentleman's pizza shop?

ezradv

I think we should start calling Pizza "Freedom round flat bread with sauce and toppings"

Mercy Mercy-Me

why don't we all get educated and do something productive in this Country??? presidents and politicians aren't the downfall of the U.S. Uneducated American citizens are.